Elijah sat in the gathering space, the claddoch, with his family for their morning meal. It was flat bread again, this time stuffed with eggs, roasted vegetables, and a green herb sauce that looked and tasted like yogurt and mint.
claddochNot bad, he thought.
Not bad,Baskets of fresh fruits sat before them that he didn’t recognize. Green baseball-sized ones that reminded him of apples or pears, orange melons with striped, sweet flesh, and red, ovular fruits that were chewy and tasted like dates. Burgundy, blue, and green cacti were served up in various ways—fried, pickled, candied, dried, and stuffed with strange spices.
The food was tolerable enough, but vastly different from what he was used to, and he found himself in great culture shock.
“Eat,” his mother urged, handing him another
